Daily Titan

Women’s rugby tackles USC

CSUF womenâ€™s rugby returns to the field for yet another relentless season of trys, bruises and sacars, as they walk all over th Trojans from USC in a near perfect victory, 49-10. Photo by Johnny Le/Daily Titan Asst. Photo Editor.

The Cal State Fullerton womenâ€™s rugby team competed in their second preseason game of the 2010-11 season. On Oct. 23, the team played USC Trojans at home on the Intramural Fields and won 49-10.

The last time the CSUF girls played USC was last season and it did not go as well as it did this past weekend where the Trojans upset the Titans 13-5, so this was redemption.

In their first home game, the girls had a lot of fans come out and cheer them on. Fans had banners, horns and chants going throughout the game.

At the end of the first half the score was 27-5, CSUF. This is when the game started to get rough. Christina Hartman, 21, is starting her first season of rugby this year. As she prepared to enter the game after the second half began, she said, â€œEach try is worth five points. You have to run the ball into the try zone and touch it to the ground to get the points.â€

In rugby lingo, a try is similar to a touchdown in football.

Hartman also said that after someone scores, the teamâ€™s kicker attempts to get the conversion, which is worth two points. In a conversion, the kicker has to place kick the ball through the try zone and in between the two posts at the end of the pitch.

One of the kickers for CSUF, Kirsten Lunt a first-time rugby player, had the loving support of her parents. Ken and Terri Lunt said, â€œThis is our first time watching her play. It is very exciting.â€

In the second half, when the score jumped to 37-10, an injury occurred when a USC player tackled a Titan hard to the ground. She was running the ball up the pitch and her head slammed into the grass taking most of the hit. A few of the Titans escorted her off the pitch and got her ice to soothe the injury.

Shortly after, the game resumed and the Titans continued to put the hurt on the Trojans in the try zone.

The last two trys for CSUF occurred just as the time was winding down. Titan freshman forward Sabrina Kraft, ran the ball the length of the field and got tackled just as she touched the ball to the ground in the try zone, giving CSUF an even bigger lead over USC; 42-10. Titan kicker, Lunt, gained the conversion points as well making the score 44-10.

Kraft, another first-time rugby player, believes the team will do great things this year. â€œI think we are going to do well. We get along really well and we are like one big family.â€

Kraft has been playing sports her whole life so rugby is like second nature to her. â€œI have played soccer, softball and wrestling. Wrestling was a big part of my life during high school. So (rugby) is just another fun sport to play.â€

In the final minutes of the game, the Titans worked together to win the ball on a breakaway and gave CSUF a 49-10 win just as the whistle was blown signaling the end of the game.

After the Titans thanked the referees and USC, the team thanked the fans for supporting them.

Because the CSUF team is in preseason right now they practice Mondays and Wednesdays to prepare themselves for their upcoming season, which starts in late December. Check out the rugby website for information on games, practice times and fundraisers.

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Hey Ally,
On behalf of the CSUF Women’s Rugby team, we would like to thank you for doing such a great job on this article! All of us were excited that we were featured in the DT today! Great pictures by Johnny, too. We hope to see you at future games.